Third win for Febvre and MXGP Championship lead!

2015-06-22 08:14
Yamaha Factory Racing Yamalube’s Romain Febvre’s superb form in the 2015 MXGP Motocross World Championship continued across the deceptive and punishing hard-pack of Teutschenthal as the Frenchman rode to his third win in row. With the ‘red plate’ as series leader by nine points over Max Nagl ‘461’ is now firmly in the hunt for the MXGP title in his rookie season in the class and his maiden term with the works YZ450FM. Team-mate Jeremy Van Horebeek was fourth overall and tied for the last step of the podium.

The Talkessel turns and combination of step-up and step-down jumps once more threaded through a narrow trajectory where premier class athlete were firmly on the gas and similar lap-times meant overtaking and position swapping often depended on mistakes among the group. 32,000 spectators enjoyed a warmer climate compared to the cold wind of Saturday for practice and qualification and MXGP rattled into the second half of the eighteen round campaign with an exciting second moto where rostrum positions were not decided until the last lap.

Febvre had taken a strong second position on Saturday during the Qualification Heat – just one place in front of Jeremy Van Horebeek – and used the power of the YZ450FM to slot straight behind Dean Ferris at the start of the first moto. RF hounded the Australian until he took control on lap two and then tried to minimise his errors while maintaining the pace and distance over Evgeny Bobryshev. With the chequered flag Romain celebrated another win for the fourth round in a row. After the break and the second MX2 outing Febvre was part of a front-running trio that included Dean Ferris and Gautier Paulin. Once into second place – thus a ranking sufficient for the overall win – Febvre tried to pass his countryman but a dislodged goggle lens impeded his progress and he eased-off to confirm second spot and another overall triumph.

Van Horebeek, now nearing peak fitness and race speed after recovering from his broken foot, rode to a lonely fourth position in the first moto. The Belgian didn't quite have the consistent times to reach the back of Gautier Paulin in third. In the second race JVH bumped and barged his way around the top five on the first lap but his proximity to Ferris on the steep uphill climb saw the pair almost touch and Jeremy went down. Picking up the YZ450FM Van Horebeek battled hard to catch up and passed Ferris on the final lap for fourth spot. He tied on points with Kevin Strijbos but the latter’s third place just ahead of the Yamaha man was the deciding factor for the podium. Another 4-4 for the 2014 series runner-up means he just misses out on a champagne spray once more.

DP19 Yamaha Racing’s David Philippaerts was unlucky on Saturday to hit Max Nagl’s prone motorcycle on the first lap of the qualification heat. The Italian, who rode so well and narrowly missed the podium at his home Grand Prix last week, was left with a sore right shoulder. The 32 year old attempted the motos and circulated for most of the first outing in eleventh until Ken De Dycker’s crash allowed him to cross the line with tenth place. In the second race DP ended up pushing his bike back to the paddock after a rock smashed his radiator and he lost water causing the engine to stop.

The MXGP World Championship standings now look decidedly positive for the Yamaha crew with Febvre leading Nagl by nine points. Van Horebeek has made up positions after missing two Grands Prix due to injury and is eighth. Philippaerts is also in the mix and sits thirteenth.

MXGP takes a break for one week – with Febvre and Van Horebeek both planning visits at some stage to the TT Assen MotoGP round coming up – but will reconvene at Uddevalla for the Grand Prix of Sweden on July 4-5.



Romain Febvre
1st and 2nd for 1st overall. Championship Position: 1st
“Having the red plate is really nice but this is the tenth GP and there are still sixteen motos to go. There is something like four hundred points still up for distribution so we need to keep consistent. Dean was difficult to pass today and in the second moto we had a nice battle with Gautier but I knew I needed second to win the GP so I made sure of that until the end. We had a lot of crashes this weekend and this is not only because of the riders but the track preparation. They put too much water on the track before our race. We need to take risks for nothing. We have the red plate…but there are eight GPs to go and anything can happen…like we saw this weekend.”

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Jeremy van Horebeek
4th and 4th for 4th overall. Championship Position: 8th
“I’m really disappointed, and pretty angry. If it hadn’t have been for that crash at the start of the second moto then I would have been on the podium for sure. I’m getting there every week and I know it will come soon; it should have been today!”





2015 MXGP Germany
Teutschenthal 21/06/2015 20 Laps
race I
1 Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 34'29.682
2 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'02.281
3 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 0'03.695
4 Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 0'06.644
5 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'27.931
6 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'41.944
7 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 0'44.673
8 Christophe Charlier Honda FRA 0'49.991
9 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 1'01.136
10 David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 1'07.095
11 Steven Frossard KTM FRA 1'11.942
12 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 1'16.968
13 Alessandro Lupino Honda ITA 1'22.378
14 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 1'26.739
15 Lukas Neurauter KTM AUT 1'27.490
race II
1 Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 34'30.088
2 Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 0'03.370
3 Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 0'04.946
4 Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 0'06.570
5 Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 0'07.448
6 Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 0'10.122
7 Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 0'11.056
8 Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 0'11.282
9 Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 0'22.463
10 Christophe Charlier Honda FRA 0'25.321
11 Steven Frossard KTM FRA 0'36.711
12 Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 0'40.072
13 Alessandro Lupino Honda ITA 0'43.765
14 Jose Antonio Butron KTM ESP 0'50.002
15 Lukas Neurauter KTM AUT 1'07.543
19 Pier Bertuzzo Yamaha ITA -1Laps

MXGP World Standing
Rider Standings After Race 10 of 19
1. Romain Febvre Yamaha FRA 369
2. Maximilian Nagl Husqvarna DE 360
3. Antonio Cairoli KTM ITA 352
4. Gautier Paulin Honda FRA 324
5. Evgeny Bobryshev Honda RUS 306
6. Clement Desalle Suzuki BEL 291
7. Shaun Simpson KTM GBR 227
8. Jeremy Van Horebeek Yamaha BEL 194
9. Todd Waters Husqvarna AUS 192
10. Glenn Coldenhoff Suzuki NLD 169
11. Ken De Dycker KTM BEL 155
12. Kevin Strijbos Suzuki BEL 151
13. David Philippaerts Yamaha ITA 150
14. Tyla Rattray Kawasaki ZAF 138
15. Dean Ferris Husqvarna AUS 131
16. Ryan Villopoto Kawasaki USA 124
28. Cedric Soubeyras Yamaha FRA 15
35. Matevz Irt Yamaha SVN 9
38. Paul Coates Yamaha GBR 7
39. Pier Bertuzzo Yamaha ITA 6
42. Jeffrey DeWulf Yamaha BEL 3
46. Lewis Gregory Yamaha GBR 0


Circuit Length:
1780
Last Years Winner:
Clement Desalle



Guillod back on the box as Fontanesi takes second double of the year in WMX
The Grand Prix of Germany was the platform for frantic scenes in the tenth round of the FIM Motocross World Championship and the latest appointment in the MX2 class of the series where Standing Construct Yamaha’s Valentin Guillod ran to third overall at a cloudy Talkessel in Teutschenthal. Also in action was the FIM Women’s World Championship and the penultimate outing of six was dominated by Yamaha’s Kiara Fontanesi.

Bumpy, quick, narrow and challenging hard-pack was the typical test offered by the Talkessel terrain at the staple venue for Grand Prix in Germany. With close lap-times and a lack of depth in choice of racing lines, starts were again a key factor. 32,000 spectators found space around the grassy banking of the venue and were treated to warmer conditions and a kinder wind compared to the wintery climate that blew across on Saturday.

The first MX2 moto blasted off with Alex Tonkov earning the holeshot. Guillod pursued a top five slot with team-mate Julien Lieber in close company. Kemea Yamaha Racing’s Benoit Paturel was also in the top ten. The second Kemea athlete, Brent Van Doninck was further back and also struggling to find a good feeling on the hard-pack. With Tonkov and Jeffrey Herlings crashing out, the race grew in tension. Guillod stalked the rear wheel of Jordi Tixer and finally moved past the world champion and into second place two laps before the finish. Lieber pushed Petar Petrov hard but could not overtake the Bulgarian and had to settle for fifth. Paturel rode largely by himself in seventh while Van Doninck came back from twenty-second to fifteenth.

Moto two almost ended before it began for Guillod as he nudged forward off the line too early and hit the gate. ‘92’ had to getaway from almost last place and then commenced a chase back to the top five with some accomplished and brave riding. In the final two laps Guillod was harrying Lieber’s rear wheel in fourth. The Belgian had been unable to track Jeremy Seewer ahead and then had to work to keep his team-mate at bay for his second top five result of the weekend. Lieber was assisted by a slip from Guillod that meant he ran out of time to launch another assault before the chequered flag was waved. Paturel was solid again in eighth and passed Brian Bogers to earn the position. ‘6’ was eighth overall for yet another appearance in the top ten in his first MX2 term. Van Doninck came home sixteenth for fifteenth overall.

In the fifth round of nine in the EMX250 European Championship Kemea’s Damon Graulus stalled his bike in the second moto and his recovery to fourteenth (aided by an exciting win from the first race on Saturday) meant fourth place overall in Germany. His work was still enough to give the Belgian second place in the competitive series that sees four riders split by just nine points with the next fixture taking place in a fortnight’s time in Sweden.

The penultimate meeting of six for the FIM Women’s World Championship saw Kiara Fontanesi on blazing form. The three times number one won both motos (for her second double and third victory of the year on the YZ250F) ahead of main title rival Livia Lancelot and has reduced the points gap to just two with the final race set for the Grand Prix of Czech Republic at the end of next month.

Guilod retains a decent third place in the MX2 points table and trails Jeffrey Herlings by 101 (and Tim Gajser by just 1) as MXGP enters the second half of the calendar. Lieber is ninth, Paturel twelfth and Van Doninck in sixteenth. More hard-pack and the shifting stones of Uddevalla will entertain the Grand Prix of Sweden (an event that has been a staple part of the calendar since the beginning of the century) in two weeks time.



Valentin Guillod
2nd and 5th for 3rd overall. Championship Position: 3rd
“I was feeling OK on the bike all weekend and my foot felt better…I actually have four broken metacarpals in my right foot. The first moto was difficult for the first fifteen minutes because it was so slippery but in the end I could push really hard to catch Jordi and almost caught Tim. In the second moto the gate took a bit of time to go down! I was sure it was going when I let my finger off the clutch but it didn't and I hit it. I started last and came back to fifth. I was close to pass my team-mate with two laps to go but made a mistake in a corner and

Source: Yamaha Motor Europe N.V.

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